Treasure, Part 3

"How hard it is for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God"

21^st May 2011

In the first part of this series, we considered:

Matthew 13v44
"The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field. When a man found it, he hid it again, and then in his joy went and sold all he had and bought that field.

In the second, we looked at the conversation between Jesus and the Rich Young Ruler, found in Mark 10v17-22.

Immediately after that conversation:

Mark 10v17-22
Jesus looked around and said to his disciples, "How hard it is for the rich to enter the kingdom of God!"
The disciples were amazed at his words. But Jesus said again, "Children, how hard it is to enter the kingdom of God! It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God."
The disciples were even more amazed, and said to each other, "Who then can be saved?"
Jesus looked at them and said, "With man this is impossible, but not with God; all things are possible with God."

The question I want to ask here is: Why is it hard for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God?

Owning money is not a sin. Owning property is not a sin (whatever Marxists say about it). There's no threshold below which owning an amount of money or property is OK and above which it's sin. God blessed some people, like Solomon, with great wealth (2 Chronicles 1v12). So the answer to our question is not that being rich is somehow the only sin that we can't be forgiven - it's not a sin at all. In fact, it can be a blessing from God.

So why does wealth make it difficult to enter the kingdom of God?

Matthew 13v44 tells us that to buy the field containing the treasure costs us everything we have. And Jesus told the rich young ruler to sell everything he had. This means that, to be a Christian - or, at least, to be a proper one - is to give up everything we have. And the richer you are, the more you have to give up, the greater the sacrifice.

Whether our riches lie in money, or family, or relationships, or reputation, or self-confidence, we can find much comfort, security and happiness in them. And God tells us to sacrifice them all, if we want to enter His kingdom.

(Maybe that's why so many people only give their lives to Christ when they're in great difficulty).

• Either our confidence is in our riches, or it's in Jesus. We must choose.
• Either our security is in our family, or friends, or reputation, or it's in Jesus. We must choose.
• Either we will rely on our own abilities, or we will trust in God's provision. We must choose.

And if we choose to trust God, our lives will change completely, on the inside and on the outside.